The Book of Ruth

Ruth: The Evil Convert?

The book of Ruth is relatively unique in the Bible, or so it appears, because it alone of all the Old Testament books encourages racial harmony, intermarriage, and the production of half-breed children. Of course, Ruth is a convert to Judaism and is often among Jewish scholars presented as a perfect example of a proselytized individual. Despite this, she is still special among the Old Testament heros (or heroines) because she is presented both as a foreigner and as a righteous woman. Even Rahab, that famous prostitute from Jericho whose actions saved Joshua and allowed him to lead his people to destroy her city (killing every man, woman, and little child with the exception of her family), is not presented as being truly admirable. Rahab's actions are tainted by a certain fallenness, and there is certainly no sense that upright Jewish girls should seek to follow in her footsteps. Ruth, however, is consistently shown as pure. This is particularly unique considering that she is one of the most despised of the racial minorities in the area, whose racial lineage is plagued by derogatory myths and outright curses from the Jews and their god. Her genuine conversion to Judaism and her quite adoption of their ways is very special in this context because it hints at an alternative to violence in racial relationships. Where in the remainder of the Old Testament God is invoked and begged to do terrible violence in order to force the Moabites (of whom Ruth was one) to acknowledge his name, this story suggests that love and familial devotion may actually go much farther than violence in bringing the religious word of a people to those around them. As such, there are three aspects of Ruth that must be realized: first that it has a metaphorical sense to it which moves beyond the historical to represent an idealized situation, secondly that it defies the stereotypes of non-Jewish women to present a faithful and heroic non-jewish protagonist, and finally it seems to critique the violence which the remainder of the collected books of the Old Testament espouses.